Global Property Guide: Croatia Sees Dramatic Recovery

GPG start their report by saying “Europe is back! Four of the five strongest housing markets in our global survey were in Europe. In all, seventeen European markets performed better during the year to Q3 2014 than the previous year, and only four showed weaker momentum,”

The report goes onto say that Croatia and Portugal were the only two markets that saw positive quarterly growth during the latest quarter.

“Croatia saw a house price rise of 2.64% during the year to Q3 2014 – a truly dramatic recovery from a decline of 17.69% during the same period last year. Portugal (1.86%), Switzerland (1.48%), Norway (1.32%) and Bulgaria (1.29%) also had price rises. All, except Switzerland, performed better in Q3 2014 compared to a year earlier. However of these, only Croatia and Portugal saw positive quarterly growth during the latest quarter.”

GPG say the there is currently a global house price boom, with prices rising in 30 of the 39 world’s housing markets which so far published housing statistics, using inflation-adjusted figures. Dubai was the world’s top performer, with housing prices rising 23.73% during the year to Q3.

Four out of the five strongest housing markets in the global survey were in Europe. In Tallinn, Estonia, best performer in Europe, the average price of dwellings surged by 15.3% during the year to Q3 2014, up from the 12.46% growth seen last year. House prices increased 2.51% q-o-q during the latest quarter. This was fuelled by an improving economy. In Ireland, residential property prices rose 14.52% during the year to Q3 2014, a remarkable improvement from a y-o-y increase of 3.45% in the same period last year. Irish house prices rose strongly by 6.43% q-o-q in Q3 2014. The UK property market continued to show impressive performance. Nationwide house prices rose by 8.95% y-o-y in Q3 2014, a sharp improvement from an annual increase of 1.47% in the previous year and the second biggest increase since Q4 2004, said the report.